Effort to Ban Technical Swimsuits Underway

onMarch 14, 2009byBruce Owens

Swimmers and swimming families, usually a reserved bunch, are in an uproar over expensive, limited-use competition suits that have invaded the pool deck. As the world governing body of aquatic sports (FINA) meets in Dubai (UAE) March 12-14 to discuss whether to amend technical rules regarding competition wear, the swimming world is holding its collective breath to see what the future of the sport will be like. In spite of FINA’s Rule SW10.7, “… no swimmer shall use a device that may aid his speed, buoyancy or endurance,” technical suits, called equipment by some, were allowed in competition in the past year. As a consequence, 112 world records were smashed in the past year, erasing the extraordinary accomplishments of the greatest athletes the sport has ever seen. But what transpired in elite competition pales in comparison to what is going on at the grassroots level. A few examples follow:

— Swimmers with technical suits cutting seconds off their best time and
beating those less fortunate without a suit
— Parents huddled around the country in toilet cubicles squeezing their
children into difficult-to-put-on suits
— Checkbook balances going down because of the cost of the suits
— High school, club, and university coaches buying suits from other
countries because they aren’t available to all
— Kids peeing in pools and showers because the suits take too long to
put on and take off
— Coaches training kids to swim differently to get the biggest benefit
from the suit
— Swimmers being told to gain weight to get the full benefit from the
suit
— Records earned from hard work being wiped out by athletes wearing the
suits

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